Carbon pack for manifold typewriters



March 7, 1944. A. PETIT 2,343,796

CARBON PACK FOR MANIFOLD TYPEWRITERS Filed July 3, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet l.@&a.maa

March 7, 1944. L. A. PETIT 2,343,796

CARBON PACK FOR MANIFOLD TYPEWRITERS Filed July 3, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2ZAWAE/VCE A. PU/r Patented Mar. 7, 1944 CARBON PACK FOR MANIFOLDTYPEWRITERS Laurence A. Petit, Chicago, Ill.

Application July 3, 1942, Serial No. 449,547

2 Claims.

This invention relates to carbon pack for manifolding typewriters andthe like, and more particularly to an improved carbon pack of the typedisclosed in my issued Patent 2,236,155, granted March 25, 1941.

Another object of this invention is to provide, in a carbon pack of theaforementioned character, a backing or supporting sheet of suchconstruction that it lends itself to use with a supply of carbon paperwhich is replaceable thereon.

In accordance with the general features of this invention, there isprovided a carbon pack for use in a manifold typewriter, billingmachine, or the like adapted to employ continuous multiple form andwhich carbon pack comprises a supporting.

sheet formed for attachment at one end to the machine, a sheet of foldedcarbon paper thereon having one end attached to a portion of thesupporting sheet remote from the attaching end thereof and a foldedportion adjacent the attaching end leaving a free tail portion, anddetachable means for securing the attached end of the carbon sheet tothe supporting sheet.

Another feature of the invention relates to the provision of a snap-onconnection between a supply of carbon paper and the supporting orbacking sheet of the carbon pack.

Other objects and features of this invention will more fully appear fromthe following detailed description taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, which illustrate an embodi ment of my invention,and in which:

.Figure 1 is a perspective view, partly broken away, showing a portionof a standard type of manifold typewriter with a continuous fanfold formtherein and illustrating the application of my improved form of carbonpack applied there.- to;

Figure 2 is a plan view of my novel form of carbon pack, partly brokenaway, and showing the carbon pack applied to a supporting arm of thetypewriting machine;

- Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on a line III-III of Figure 2looking in a direction indicated by the arrows;

Figure 4 is a rear view of the carbon. pack illustrated in Figure 2; and

Figure 5 is an enlarged detail sectional view. taken on a line V-V ofFigure 2 looking in a direction indicated by the arrows and showing howall of the carbon sheets are secured together at one end of the carbonpack.

As shown on the drawings:

In' order to facilitate the description of the present invention, I'haveused the same reference numerals in Figure 1 as were used in describingthe typewriting machine of my previous Letters Patent. The parts orelements designated by these numerals are briefly described hereinbelow.

The reference character 10 designates generally the platen of thetypewriter machine which is associated with a platen carriage l2.Associated with the platen In in the usual way is a fanfold form H,which may be of any suitable construction and is usually in the form ofa continuous strip arranged in fanfold formation, as is well known inthe art. This fanfold form extends lengthwise over the carrier frame l8of the machine which extends backwards from the platen carriage l2 andis movable with it from side to side. The carrier frame l8 includes theusual shifter frame 21 movable toward and away from the platen carriagel2. Associated with the shifter frame are the usual standard carbonsupporting arms 3i although it is, of course, understood that differentforms of arms may be used without deviating from the spirit of myinvention. Each arm 3| carries a clip 32 ordinarily used to hold theends of a sheet of carbon paper; this clip is left in place when my formof carbon pack is used but performs no useful function. In addition,each arm 3| is provideo. with dowel pins 36 which fit in the holes 31 inthe shifter frame bracket 38 in the usual man- Her and is also providedwith a knob or handle 33 which facilitates the handling of the arm.

It will be noted that the shifter frame 21 carries a pair of thebrackets 38 which are set and project up beside the work sheets or forml'l. These brackets are provided with a series of pairs of holes 31 atdifferent levels, as is well known in the art, for cooperating with thecarbon supporting arms 3[ as noted before. This construction is suchthat a number of carbon supporting arms may be supported so as to extendin between the layers of the work sheets I1 and to which arms carbonpaper or sheets are secured so as to float between the folds of the worksheets.

Positioned at the extremities of the platen it are the usual platenframe members All and 50 which are cooperable with the usual latches 62and 63. The platen l0, together with its frame members 49 and 50, areswingable up away from the usual feed rollers therebeneath and forwardagainst the stop 59 upon release of the latches 62 and 63.

The carbon shifter 2'! is movable in the usual manner by means of ahandle H fixed to it and extending forward to a convenient position. The

reference character designates the usual knife cooperable with theplaten N.

The machine also includes the usual gauge 59, which is so set that afterthe work sheets have been pulled out to it and the platen H] has beenswung back into its normal position, the bottoms of the forms which havebeen filled out will lie along the edge of the previously referred toknife 10.

Each of the transverse arms 3| is adapted to support a carbon pack 34embodying the features of this invention but before proceeding todescribe the manner in which the pack cooperates with the fanfold formsor work sheets I1, I shall briefly describe the construction of thisimproved carbon pack, which is shown in detail in Figures 2 to 5,inclusive.

The pack 34 includes a backing or supporting sheet having one end foldedback upon itself forming a flap 18, which flap may be notched out if sodesired, as shown in Figure 2. Near the upper end of the pack, as shownin Figure 2, the flap 16 is secured by means of wire stitching orstaples T! to the main body of the pack. These staples are arranged in acommon line spaced from the extremity of the pack so as to provide apocket in the backing sheet in which the end of the supporting arm 3| ofthe typewriting machine is insertable, as shown in Figure 2.

The other end of the backing sheet 75 is cut out to lighten it and isthus formed into two leg portions 78 and 19. It is to the extremities ofthese leg portions that the supply of carbon paper 80 is detachablysecured by means of snap buttons, which will be described in detailhereinafter.

The supply of carbon paper 80 may include one sheet or a plurality ofsheets, depending upon what thickness of material can be accommodatedbetween the plies of the form without interfering with the operation ofthe machine. It will be noted from Figure 3 that I have illustrated thecarbon paper supply 80 as comprising three folded sheets of carbon papersuperimposed upon each other.

Each sheet of carbon paper has a free end or tail portion designated atA in Figure 3 which is disposed under the main body portion of the sheetand is located in close proximity to the snap-fastening means at the endof the pack. The other end of the carbon paper sheet is secured togetheralong with the corresponding ends of the other sheets of carbon paper inthe pack in a common folded strip of paper Bl. This strip of paper 8| isfolded into a U with the registering ends of the carbon paper sandwichedtherein. The ends of the carbon paper are secured in the strip 8| bymeans of staples or wire stitchings 82. Thus, the paper strip 8|,together with the staples, provide a binding for securing like ends ofall of the sheets of carbon paper together in a single pad with the freeextremities of the folded portions of the paper positioned in closeproximity thereto, as noted at A.

The snap-fastening means comprises the usual female member 83 and malemember 84. One set of these fasteners is associated with each of the legportions 18 and 19 of the supporting sheet. The female members 83 areeach suitably held inside of the folded strip 8|, as shown in Figure 3.Each of the male members 84 is suitably anchored to corresponding legportions 18 and 19 of the backing sheet and is so positioned as toregister properly with a cooperating concealed female member inside ofthe binding strip 8|. Thus the pad of carbon paper 80, together with itsbinding strip 8|, may be readily attached to the leg portions 18 and 19of the supporting sheet by means of the above described snap-fasteningelements. Similarly, the carbon paper supply may be readily detachedfrom the leg portions 18 and I9 when it is desired to replace the usedcarbon pad by a fresh supply or pad of carbon paper.

In Figure 3 I have illustrated by dotted lines a sheet of carbon paperin the process of being unfolded for use in the machine. At first, thesheet is pulled out from under the flap 16 and then its free tailportion BI is extended so that the carbon sheet, when in use, projectslongitudinally from the snap-fastener end of the pack toward the platenof the machine. The flap 16 serves the purpose of keeping the carbonpaper that is not in use flat on the carrying sheath and aids inpreventing the looped or turned ends of the carbon paper from beingpulled along with the work sheets.

In the use of the carbon packs of my invention, one pack is mounted uponeach of the arms 3| of the machine shown in Figure 1 and a sheet ofcarbon paper is unfolded and extended from the fastener end of th packtoward the platen so that it may be threaded along with the work sheetsthrough the platen carriage of the machine. In other words, the carbonpacks 34 carried by the arm 3| lie between the successive layers of worksheets H with the folded and extended sheets of carbon paper 80 locatedbetween the work sheets. Extended carbon paper with the work sheets arethreaded around the platen ||I of the typewriter to the location inwhich they are to be typed. Thus, Whatever is typed on the uppermostwork sheet is reproduced on the other work sheet or sheets.

When the typewritten matter on a work form has been completed, thelatches 52 and 63 that hold the platen frame members 49 and 50 arereleased, and the platen l0 together with its frame members 49 and 50are swung up away from the feed rollers beneath it and forward againstthe stop 56. The ends of the work sheets I! are then grasped between thethumb and finger and pulled forward to the gauge 59, which has beenswung forward with the platen frame, and the carbon shifter 21 issimultaneously moved by means of the handle fixed to it. This operationshifts the carbon paper back from between the forms which have just beenfilled out and places their ends between the next set of forms to befilled out. The platen frame is then swung back into its normalposition, which causes the work sheets to b gripped between the platenI0 and the feed rollers beneath it. Thus, the work sheets I! ar heldwhile the set of forms which has been filled out is torn off along theblade or knife 10.

As noted before, the gauge 59 is set so that after the work sheets havebeen pulled out to it and the platen ID has been swung back into itsnormal position, the :bottoms of the forms which have been filled outwill lie along the edge of the knife 70. At the same time, the shiftingframe 21 has been pushed back far enough so that the ends of the carbonsheets will lie a little below the knife 10 so that, after thefilled-out forms are torn off, the remaining forms will project a shortdistance between the ends of the carbon sheets to enable them to begrasped without grasping the carbon sheets, thus facilitating thesucceeding operation of moving the carbon sheets back with respect tothe work sheets or Webs ll.

After the free extremities of the carbon sheets have been used formaking out a number of sets of forms, they become worn out. When thisoccurs, the shifting frame 27 is not pushed back as the ends of the worksheets iii are pulled forward preparatory to being torn off, or else theshifting frame 27 is not pushed back as far as when the ends of thecarbon sheets are not Worn out. The result of not pushing back theshifting frame 2? or not pushing it back as far as at other times is toallow the ends of the carbon sheets to project past the knife ittogether with the forms which are to be torn off so that, when the formsare torn off, end portions of the extended carbon sheets will also betorn off and may then be removed from the severed forms and disposed of.

The repeated tearing off of the end portions of the carbon sheetseventually reduces the length of that portion of each carbon sheet whichhas been extended from the carbon pack 3% to a point where the balanceof the sheet must be replaced. In order to restore this free portion toits original length, the layers of work sheets I! are spread apart wherethey cross the shifter frame 21 and on the side from which the carbonpack support bar 3! extends. By so doing, the operator can unfold afresh sheet of carbon paper 80 from the pack 3 1 and thread it throughthe machine along with the work sheets. This operation, however, is onlynecessary after the previously extended sheet has been used up.

When all of the carbon paper in the pack has been used or, in otherwords, when all of the carbon paper available for use in the pack hasbeen used, a fresh supply of carbon paper may be introduced in the packby merely detaching the binding strip and the remaining end portions ofthe carbon paper from the supporting sheet 75. This is made possiblethrough the means of the snap fasteners previously described. Thus, mypresent invention does not necessitate a removal by the operator of thesupporting sheet from the arm 3| in order to supply a new set of sheetsof carbon paper. A new supply may be substituted for the removed bindingstrip 8| by merely snapping a new pad into cooperation with the snapfastener members 84-434 on the legs l8'i9 of the supporting sheet 15 ofthe pack 34.

This improvement constitutes an advantage in that it saves time on thepart of the operator in having to remove the arm 3! in order tointroduce in the machine a fresh supply of carbon paper when theprevious supply has been used up. In addition, it enables a saving inmaterial in that it is not necessary to throw away the :backing orsupporting sheet each time the supply of carbon paper 80 has been usedup. My construction permits of the use of the supporting sheet 15 overand over again. Particularly is this true if the supporting sheet ismade of a good quality of material. In fact, the supporting sheet couldbe made of some heavier material than paper such, for example, asCelluloid. Good results are obtainable, however, by the use of a goodheavy grade of paper.

It will, of course, be understood that various details of constructionmay be varied through a wide range without departing from the principlesof this invention and it is, therefore, not the purpose to limit thepatent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by the scope of theappended claims.

I claim as follows:

1. A supporting member for a carbon pack for use in a manifoldingtypewriter or the like comprising a sheet folded substantially midway ofits longer dimension, said sheet having a pocket formed adjacent thefolded end thereof and having provided adjacent one of the free ends ofthe sheet means for detachably mounting the carbon pack and supportingthe same between the free ends of the sheet.

2. A supporting member for folded carbon paper for use in a manifoldingtypewriter or the like comprising a sheet folded transversely of itslength into two legs with a pocket therebetween at the folded end, saidfolded sheet having one of its two legs provided with means fordetachably mounting and attaching the carbon paper thereto between theplanes of said legs.

LAURENCE A. PETIT.

